Completing the practical element of the NEBOSH Certificate and International Certificate

courses (now referred to as GC3), at first glance, can seem quite a difficult and daunting task
particularly for those who dont regularly write management reports in their line of work, or
where its been some years since doing any form of studying. Without its successful
completion however, the NEBOSH Certificate/International Certificate qualification cannot be
awarded.
In my capacity as a NEBOSH trainer, I frequently get asked for any tips I can offer relating to the
successful completion of GC3. So, where better than my first blog post in my new role as a
consultant and trainer with Astutis, to address some key issues?
This article is intended to provide candidates with advice and guidance on how to successfully
complete GC3: The NEBOSH Certificate Practical Application things to remember and things to
avoid.
What is GC3 trying to achieve?
The purpose of GC3, according to the guidance, is to enable candidates to
apply the knowledge and understanding gained from their studies of elements of units NGC1
and GC2 or IGC1 and GC2 in a practical environment and to carry out an evaluation of
information during the inspection. (GC2: Guidance and Information for Course Providers and
Candidates)
Whilst there are two parts to the practical an inspection and a management report they do not
attract equal marks. The inspection is worth 30 marks and the management report 70.
So what is required?
Basically, GC3 requires candidates to do two things: firstly to carry out an inspection of a
workplace(noting their findings on Observation Sheets provided by NEBOSH) and then secondly
towrite a report to management concerning these findings, persuading management to take
action.
Both the inspection and the management report can either be handwritten or word processed.
There is no time limit set nor is the practical required to be supervised, however the guidance
suggests that the whole exercise should take no longer than 2 hours and the management report
should be between 700 1000 words in length.
The findings of the inspection are recorded on standardised Observation Sheets provided by
NEBOSH and the management report must be written using standard headings, again set out by
NEBOSH.

The guidance also contains the marking scheme, which is used by the approved NEBOSH markers,
and this is summarised in table 1 below. Notice that even though there are two parts to the
practical an inspection and a management report they do not attract equal marks, the
inspection attracting 30 marks and the management report 70.
Table 1: Marking Scheme

Criteria

Maximum
Marks
Available

Completion of observation sheets

Range and outline of hazards and

consequences

15

1.1

Identification of suitable control

measures and timescales

15

1.2
2

Report Introduction and Executive

Summary

2.1

Introduction providing an overview of

the chosen area

2.2

Executive summary

Report main findings

3.1

Quality of interpretation of findings

Identification of possible breaches of

legislation

3.2

Persuasiveness/conciseness/technical
content

10

3.3
4

Report Conclusions and

Recommendations

15

Assessors
Marks
Awarded

NEBOSH Moderated
Marks (if different)

4.1

Clear and concise conclusions which are

clearly related to report findings and
are effective in convincing management
to take action

4.2

Recommendations which present

realistic actions to improve health and
safety in the chosen area
TOTAL

15

15
100

Also it can be seen that the maximum number of marks available is 100. The pass mark is however
60.
More detailed information on the marking scheme is contained in the Guidance together with
clear direction on how the marks are allocated for each section, entitled the Marking Matrix, in
appendix 6 of the guidance.
Why is it so important to read and use the GC3 Guidance provided by NEBOSH and information
provided by course providers?
It may sound obvious but it is vital that candidates thoroughly read any guidance given to them
concerning the practical so they fully understanding what is required in each step before they
make a start.
The Marking Matrix in the GC3 Guidance, mentioned above, is really important as it will enable
candidates to compare what they have written (observation sheets and management report)
against descriptions of what the NEBOSH marker is looking for in order to award high marks.
As an example, to award a maximum of 5 marks for the Introduction in the management report,
the marker is looking for the Introduction to provide a Clear and appropriate description of the
chosen area and of the activities occurring in the area. Clearly therefore an Introduction which
does not contain any or little information about the chosen area that was inspected (its
approximate size, its location etc) nor the activities that are carried out in the area, is not going
to gain many marks.
So what are some of the important things to remember when completing the Inspection and
Management Report?
Whilst candidates are not marked on their spelling or grammar, it must be remembered that the
report needs to make sense (and is readable if it is hand written).
Ok, lets take a look at some of the areas to be aware of when completing GC3, firstly the
Observations sheets.

Observation sheets
The format of the sheets are set by NEBOSH and can be seen in figure 1 below:
ObservationsHazards
and consequences

Control measuresImmediate
and longer-term actions

Time scale

Points to remember when completing these sheets include:

Candidates are required to identify at least 14-20 uncontrolled hazards/consequences which

cover 4-5 different types of hazards (electricity, machinery, fire etc). Make sure therefore that
the work area selected for the inspection is big enough and/or varied enough for this number of
hazards to be identified.
The above form requires both the hazard and consequence to be identified. Marks will therefore
not be awarded if hazards are identified but no consequence is given. For example, writing
Emergency exit locked and blocked by steel bucket preventing escape in an emergency
would be awarded marks, but just writing Fire exit locked and blocked would not gain marks.
Ensure that the recommended control measures not only deal with the identified problems in
the short term but also address the underlying problems for the longer term (that is to say the
real reasons are dealt with not just the symptoms that are seen in the work place). For example
if a guard is missing on a machine, not only recommend that the machine is not used and the
guard is replaced but also recommend what should be done to prevent this from reoccurring in
the future.
When suggesting timescales for the recommended control measures, make sure they are
appropriate i.e. it is physically possible to complete the recommendation in that timescale and
it is not too long if the risk from the hazard observed is high.

Management Report
The NEBOSH Certificate (NGC & IGC) Management Report should be written using the following
headings which have been laid down by NEBOSH:

Introduction
Executive Summary
Main Findings of the Inspection
Conclusions
Recommendations

When writing the report it may seem to the candidate that they are repeating themselves i.e.
findings and general recommendations are discussed in the Main Findings then they are
summarised in the Conclusions, they are then repeated again in more detail in the
Recommendations and finally given an overview in the Executive Summary. Do not worry, this is
what is required by the marking scheme and reports where this has clearly been done in line with
this marking scheme usually get good marks.

1. Introduction Make sure this section contains a clear overview of the area that was inspected
and a good description of the activities and operations carried out in that area.
2. Executive Summary This should be written at the end of the report writing stage but needs
to be placed in the report at this point (after the Introduction and before the Main Findings of the
Inspection). It needs to provide a short overview of the important points in the report and the
recommendations suggested to improve what was observed. It should not be vague but should give
someone who has not read the report in full an overall picture of what the main problems were
and what has been recommended to address them.
3. Main Findings This section is not meant to be a repeat of the observation sheets but a
summary of the main findings and areas of concern that were observed during the inspection.
Similar hazards observed in the inspection should therefore be grouped together in this section
and discussed, making sure that the hazards which present the highest risk are included. Typically
this section will discuss around 4 to 6 of the major areas of concern.
Also ensure in this section that at least 5 references to legislation and/or international standards
being breached are included, with a statement outlining why they are being breached. Just stating
the legislation without the reason why will not gain any marks. For example, a statement such as
the machine does not have a guard fitted this is in breach of the Provision and Use of Work
Equipment Regulations 1998 which requires dangerous parts of machinery to be guarded will be
awarded a mark. Just simply stating this is in breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment
Regulations 1998, will not attract a mark.
When discussing the main findings of the inspection also ensure that the moral, legal and financial
arguments are made for taking action and implementing the recommended control measures (take
a look at our earlier Worst Case Scenario blog series for more information on the moral, legal
and financial drivers to workplace safety). A manager, when reading the report, should be
persuaded to take action and left in no doubt as to what could be the consequences of not taking
action and what could be the benefits when action is taken.
4. Conclusions Ensure that the conclusions summarise the main points of the issues discussed in
the main body and that again, management are persuaded to take action. Conclusions which are
vague, do not mention any of the findings discussed in the main report or introduce new issues
which are not mentioned in the main findings will not gain marks.
5. Recommendations These must follow on from the issues summarised in the conclusions.
Therefore if the main findings of the report have not been summarised in the conclusions, the
candidate will not only get a poor mark for the conclusions but also a poor mark for the
recommendations, as the recommendations need to follow on from the conclusions.
The recommendations must be realistic, have an appropriate timescale, prioritised according to
their importance in dealing with the level of risk and have an appropriate resource given to them
e.g. cost in pounds or man hours to complete. This information must be presented in the following
format as seen in table 2:

Recommendation

Likely resource
implications

Priority

Review date

Finally, ensure that the completed Observations Sheets and Management Report are received by
your training provider by the date specified.
The full guidance for the GC3 practical for candidates can be downloaded from theNEBOSH
website.